In Search of Sleep

A film by Josh Freed and Eric Siblin

According to surveys, over a third of North Americans and Europeans suffer from sleep problems. Modern society is plagued by the sleep-deprived, who cause thousands of auto accidents and other disasters, not to mention marital discord. Josh Freed, the insomniac-filmmaker, hasn’t slept like a baby since he was one. He has spent thousands of nights thinking about sleep when he should be sleeping. He takes cold comfort knowing that Socrates and Benjamin Franklin were also insomniacs .

He decides to get help, meeting with the world’s top sleep doctors and scientists like Dr. Jeffrey Lipshift, a sleep therapist and Dr. William Denert, a Stanford University sleep expert. He submerses himself in a flotation tank, experiments with acupuncture and even tries "New Age" relaxation therapy in California. He orders a new mattress from a company specializing in custom-made beds. He attends the World Sleep Symposium in Toronto and travels to Spain to meet some night owls who teach him the art of the siesta, hoping for afternoon relief, if not nocturnal. Finally, he spends a night wired up at the Toronto Sleep Disorders Clinic after which he learns some of the reasons behind his insomnia: mild sleep apnea, seizures and twitchy legs. But will he sleep any better?

50 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. video rental $85.

Western Psychological Association 2007